Walkin' Michigan
11/01/2003
with the Historic
Pathwalkers
member club of the
American Volksport Assoc.
Remarks
Jean Woltjer, President
211 Cambridge
Holland, MI 49423-3057
616-392-2844 hjw@macatawa.org
As our beautiful fall
season eases into what follows, I hope you haven’t put away your walking shoes.
We’ve had a great year for walking and for enjoying the outdoors and with
cooler weather just around the corner, all we need to do is bundle up a little.
We had a very
successful walk in Mason on October 4 and I’d like to thank all those who
participated, whether by walking or working in some capacity. It turned out to
be a crisp, sunny day and by all reports everyone had a good time.
We are looking for ideas
for next year and welcome your suggestions as to where we should have our scheduled
events. It has been suggested that we ask for a volunteer trailmaster who would
be responsible for setting up a schedule of walks for next year. They might
include group walks of our year round and seasonals, as well as one or more
scheduled walks. With the new A – Z program it might be nice to include a city
or town starting with a difficult to obtain letter, such as Q or Z. We welcome
your input and if you’d like to take this on please let me know.
November Walk
Linda Theil, Editor
Our club will host group walks at two of our Year
'Round Events on Saturday, November 15. We plan to start at the Holiday Inn
Express in Coldwater at 10 a.m. break for lunch and travel to Marshall where
we'll start at the AmeriHost Inn at 2 p.m. The cost is $3 per walk for credit
only, and $7 each if you'd like the A award for each walk. The A award for
Coldwater is an Indian Head lapel pin; the A award for Marshall is a cane
shield.
The Holiday Inn Express in Coldwater is located at 630 E.
Chicago Street at exit 13 on I-69. The phone number is 517-279-0900 or call
toll free 866-656-7129.
The AmeriHost Inn in Marshall is located at 204 Winston Drive,
one mile east of Exit # 36 on I-69. The
phone number is 269-789-7890.
AVA News
Executive Council meeting
Excerpts from report by
AVA Vice-president
Ginny Drumm
Executive Council XIII
met in San Antonio, Texas on Thursday, September 25 and Friday, September 26,
2003.
Even though the Colorado
Springs convention is still fresh in everyone's memory, Joan Lampart has us
looking forward to the 2005 gathering in Cherry Hill, NJ. (AVA 14th Biennial
Convention at Cherry Hill, NJ - June 22-24, 2005)
The committee is finalizing arrangements for the three convention walks and a
short-term seasonal walk starting from the convention hotel. Clubs throughout
the region are planning events before and after the convention to help satisfy
the volkssporters need to walk!
The 2007 committee is moving forward with
plans for a nine-day format centered in the Sacramento area.
All committees are still accepting members. If you have an interest in a
particular area and want to have some influence in the future of our
organization please, do volunteer to serve:
Audit - Dennis Michele (Liaison); Jim Geith (Chair)
Standards and Evaluations - John Ferguson
Publicity - Leonard Wojtysiak
Marketing - Ed Todd
Training and Development - Dennis Michele
Special Events - Joan Lampart
Strategic Planning - Curt Myron
Special Funds Development - Patty Proulx
Awards - Bonnie Johnson
Youth Program - Leslie Penton
Bylaws - John Baird
Technology - Leslie Penton (Liaison); Ron Drumm (Chair)
Finance Committee - Ginny Drumm
Contact information for all council members can be found in each issue of
"The American Wanderer" and on the AVA website at ava.org.
Welcome members
Alma Lucas, Membership
Alma Lucas will be handling club membership and requests for
information about our club. Please contact Alma if you'd like to join.
The Historic Pathwalkers is a member club of the American
Volksport Association.
Ireland
Wayne Fieldhouse
Have you ever been to Ireland? You gotta go! The Emerald Isle is
one of the most accommodating places on earth. My wife, Pat, and I have spent
two weeks in Ireland during each of the past three years. The last two we've
spent a week in Tommy Larry's 100-year-old cottage on the side of a hill
overlooking an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean just south of Newport. We're
independent travelers so for us it's Avis and Hertz rental cars we pick up at
the Dublin and Shannon airports and down the road (on the opposite side).
We've stayed in Ballynahinch castle near Recess in the middle of the
Connemara Peninsula and walked through Dublin, Killarney, Galway, Westport, Donegal and a
host of smaller towns. We saw the Ring of
Kerry Bronze -age stone circle in
Kenmare, Irish lace, tin whisles,
boghran drums, hurling, soccer, poets and their poetry. We've seen impressive
coastlines, ancient abbeys, pubs with traditional music galore, thatch-roofed
cottages and numerous superb bed and breakfast inns we found through www.townandcountry.ie and
www.selfcatering-ireland.com.
For more information, check www.irelandtourism.com or if you have
a question or two, contact me.
Safety lights
Richard Maher
This information was on the public Walklist e-mail list on
October 24. If you'd like to get a daily digest of messages to that list, send a
blank e-mail to: walklist-digest@yahoogroups.com
If anyone is interested
in a new light that has the same features as the Photon Micro Light II at half
the price check out the Ultra Bright LED II at www.photonmico.com. Ultra Brights are a
great light to have with you for camping, safety, emergencies, in your car or
just to have a flashlight with you at all times.The red will not impair your night vision.
Ultra Bright II weighs
just 6 grams, is the size of a quarter, can be seen for over a mile and has a
LED bulb with a 100,000 hour life. They come with lithium batteries, a lifetime
warranty and free shipping at a cost of $7.99 which is half the price of a Photon
II.
Share your news
Linda Theil, Editor
If you have any walking information or adventures you'd like to
share with the club, please send them to me at my address above. Also, if
neighboring clubs would like us to promo your walks here, please send me the
information. Please share our newsletter with anyone you know who is interested
in walking.